{"id":2403800,"date":"2026-05-05T21:54:24","date_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:54:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2403800"},"modified":"2026-05-05T21:54:24","modified_gmt":"2026-05-05T21:54:24","slug":"darius-ruckers-wagon-wheel-cover-becomes-the-latest-country-song-to-reach-one-billion-streams-on-spotify","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/darius-ruckers-wagon-wheel-cover-becomes-the-latest-country-song-to-reach-one-billion-streams-on-spotify\/","title":{"rendered":"Darius Rucker\u2019s \u201cWagon Wheel\u201d Cover Becomes The Latest Country Song To Reach One Billion Streams On Spotify"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Darius joined some elite company.<\/p>\n

Despite some competition from Apple Music, there\u2019s no doubt that Spotify has remained the top streaming platform since its official launch in the United States in July 2011. With over 696 million monthly active users, 276 million of whom pay for premium, the platform has become nothing short of a staple in terms of music consumption nowadays. Boasting over 100 million songs available to be streamed right now (excluding Garth Brooks\u2019 <\/strong><\/a>entire discography, of course), Spotify has nearly every notable song ever released over the past century.<\/p>\n

Out of all the songs throughout the history of music, a little over 1,200 tracks have passed the elusive one billion-stream threshold on the platform. Out of those 1,200+ songs, until today, only 14 of those fall under the country category.<\/p>\n

While some of these tracks can hardly be considered country, including the likes of Dan + Shay and Justin Bieber\u2019s \u201c10,000 Hours,\u201d Shaboozey\u2019s \u201cA Bar Song (Tipsy)\u201d and Bebe Rexha and Florida Georgia Line\u2019s \u201cMeant To Be,\u201d you do have some actual quality songs present on the list. These, of course, include Zach Bryan\u2019s \u201cSomething in the Orange\u201d and \u201cI Remember Everything,\u201d Luke Combs\u2019 \u201cBeautiful Crazy\u201d and \u201cWhen It Rains It Pours\u201d and Chris Stapleton\u2019s double-diamond hit, \u201cTennessee Whiskey.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, we have another entry into the billion-stream club: none other than Darius Rucker\u2019s<\/strong><\/a> cover of Old Crow Medicine Show\u2019s 2004 single, \u201cWagon Wheel,\u201d which is now the 15th country song in history to reach the exclusive threshold.<\/p>\n

As most know by now, the history of \u201cWagon Wheel\u201d is one of the most complicated<\/strong><\/a> in all of music. At first, the song was believed to be written by Old Crow\u2019s frontman, Ketch Secor, after hearing an old Bob Dylan work tape, \u201cRock Me, Mama\u201d from 1973. However, even Dylan\u2019s version wasn\u2019t the original.<\/p>\n

Dylan would tell Secor that he heard it from Arthur \u201cBig Boy\u201d Crudup, a blues singer from Mississippi who had multiple songs recorded and made popular by Elvis Presley. As it turns out, Crudup didn\u2019t write it either. Instead, he heard it from a fellow blues singer, Big Bill Broonzy, an African American blues singer who was born in Mississippi but moved with his family to Chicago in the 1920s.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re keeping track, \u201cWagon Wheel\u201d (or at least the concept) would essentially change hands four times before Rucker recorded his version of the song in 2013 on his fourth studio album,\u00a0True Believers<\/em>. And as we all know by now, the former Hootie & the Blowfish frontman made it one of the most popular (and undoubtedly most overplayed) country songs of all time.<\/p>\n

Immediately after being released as\u00a0True Believers\u2019<\/em> second single, \u201cWagon Wheel\u201d would catch fire. In its 12th week, the track would reach #1 on Billboard\u2019s Hot Country Songs chart, also topping their Country Airplay chart and scoring Rucker his only Top 15 hit on the all-genre Hot 100.<\/p>\n

Obviously, the fever for non-traditional country fans has really yet to wear out with the track over the past 13 years. In 2022, it was certified diamond by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), selling over 10 million units. At the time, it was only the fourth country song ever to reach this status, and today, it remains as one of only 23 to achieve diamond status.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll be the first one to admit that I think I\u2019ve heard enough of the song to last my entire lifetime at this point, but it\u2019s undoubtedly an impressive career accomplishment for Rucker.<\/p>\n

A full list of country songs with a billion streams on Spotify is as follows:<\/p>\n